Colorado came out of the gate full speed ahead to take control of the game and held on to it through the end.
The Colorado Avalanche needed to play a full 60 minutes to earn two points against the Los Angeles Kings and they did.
First period
Logan O'Connor ripped a shot past Kings goalie Cam Talbot to get the Avalanche on the board first at 12:16.
O'Connor netted his second at 14:55 with assists from his linemates — Ross Colton and Miles Wood.
Nathan MacKinnon extended his home point scoring streak to 25 with a goal at 18:30. That tied him with Bobby Orr (1974-75) for the second-longest season-opening home point streak in NHL history. He also extended his point streak to 13 games, which made him the first Avalanche player with two 13-plus game point streaks in a season since Milan Hejduk in 2002-03.
MacKinnon’s home point streak is tied for the 10th-longest in NHL history regardless of start date with Mario Lemieux from Nov. 1, 1995 - March 16, 1996.
Colorado's Devon Toews had the only penalty of the period for holding the stick.
The Avs outshot the Kings 12-7 and ended the period 3-0,
Second period
The Kings swapped out goaltenders replacing Cam Talbot with David Rittich to start the period.
Kurtis MacDermid got called for interference and seconds into the penalty, Kevin Fiala beat Alexandar Georgiev to get the Kings on the scoresheet.
Less than 30 seconds later, Fiala was assessed a double minor for high-sticking Devon Toews. The Avs did not convert on the extended man-advantage.
Josh Manson took a pass from Andrew Cogliano and beat Rittich glove-side to put the Avs up by three at 11:44.
Logan O'Connor and Matt Roy got into a scuffle in front of the net to earn matching penalties but neither team scored during the 4-on-4 play.
The middle frame ended Avalanche 4 - Kings 1.
Third period
Cale Makar wristed a shot down the lane that hit Drew Doughty's wrist on the way and ended up in the back of the net. MacKinnon and Ross Colton earned assists on the goal.
Discipline was an issue for both teams in the final period — the Avs received four minors and the Kings got three. Adrian Kempe was in the box for tripping Makar when the 25-year-old defenseman scored the fifth goal for the Avalanche.
Makar finished the game with the most shots on goal (9) and Georgiev made 26 saves for a 5-1 final.
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